Falling In Love
by SheFallsAsleep
Summary: Emma stays with her best friend, Tom Fletcher, and the rest of the McFly boys and ends up falling for one of the members. How will it all play out? Not a JML Fic COMPLETE
1. Chapter 1

Tom Fletcher had been one of my best friends for as long as I could remember. We went to primary school together as kids until my dad had gotten a new job in America, resulting in our move. Tom and I had managed to stay in touch all those years through various forms of technology and visits. I had been back in London for close to three months now, living with Michael, my boyfriend of a year and a half, who I had met in my old town in Washington.

Tom had invited us to watch backstage at a gig he was playing with his band, McFly. I had met the guys in his band a few times, and had to admit…they were pretty damn attractive. But I was happy in my relationship. Michael was the first guy that I truly loved.

"Emma!" Tom shouted at me as he walked into the backstage rehearsal room that Michael and I were in.

"Tom!" I shouted back. I gave him a huge hug, ignoring his sweaty state. "You guys were amazing!"

"Aw, thanks," he grinned at me.

"Great show!" Michael congratulated Tom, earning him a 'thanks, mate' from the blond guitarist. "I'll be right back," Michael told us, leaving for the bathroom.

That left Tom and I to talk, which was actually one of my favorite things in the world. He always seemed to know what to say. He was in the middle of telling me a story about one of his band members, Dougie, when a ping from Michael's phone interrupted him. I glanced down at the phone, which was on the table right beside me, for a second.

'_I miss you too, babe. When can I visit you in London?3' _

The sender of the text was a girl named Samantha, Michael's supposed _ex-_girlfriend. Tom noticed my expression and took the phone from my hands, reading the text. I saw his jaw lock as Michael walked back into the room. Tom wasn't the only one who noticed my expression apparently. He warily grabbed his phone from Tom, panic fleeting across his face as he realized what had just happened.

"How long has this been going on?" my voice was surprisingly calm.

"A few months…" he admitted.

"I trusted you," my voice cracked. I couldn't believe this. The last few months, maybe the entire time we had been living in England together, he had been seeing another girl. I looked over at Tom on my right and was surprised by how angry he looked. He walked towards Michael in one long stride and punched the side of his face with a loud smack.

"AH, holy shit!" Michael yelled, cradling the side of his face. Tom gave a semi-smug smirk. Hearing all the commotion, the rest of McFly entered the room.

"What the hell is going on?" Harry asked, looking at the three of us.

"Michael was just leaving-"

"Emma, wait! I'm sorry, okay! It was all just a mistake."

"Fuck you."

I'm guessing Michael could tell by the look on my face that I wasn't going to forgive him because with a final pleading look he left the room.

"Asshole," I muttered. I felt a few tears sliding down my face, but I quickly wiped them off with the back of my hand. There was something about crying in front of people that made me feeling extremely weak and vulnerable. Tom was the first one I looked at. He wrapped his arms around me, and I rested my head on his shoulder for a brief moment before pulling myself together. I didn't want to get emotional with people around me.

"Do you want to stay at my house tonight?" Tom asked softly. "The guys are staying over for the weekend, so we can write some songs and stuff. I would love it if you joined us."

Something about the way Tom had spoken had me briefly smiling. Like I said, he always knew what to say.

"That sounds perfect."

"Good," he smiled back at me. "We're ready to go then!"

Tom took my hand and led us through the hallways out to the door, the rest of the band trailing behind us. Holding hands was never a romantic thing between us; it was just a comforting. We loved each other, but as friends, and I was so thankful to have him in my life.


	2. Chapter 2

"We're hereeee," Danny called out from the front of the van as we pulled up alongside Tom's house.

"We know." Harry said.

"Yeah, we've all been here before, Danny," I chipped in small giggle.

"Sassy!"

We all climbed out of the car, the guys grabbing their bags from the back. It occurred to me that all my stuff was still at my flat. I guess I'd have to borrow some of Tom's clothes. According the clock on my phone, it was around 7 in the evening; the McFly concert had been pretty early. All I really wanted to do was curl up in a bed, but it would be a little obvious if I did it this early in the night. I didn't want them to see how torn up I was about the Michael situation.

Walking into the house, we were immediately greeted by Marvin, one of Tom's cats.

"Hey, Marv."

I bent down to scratch him behind his ears before following the rest of the guys to the living room. I plopped down on the couch between Tom and Harry.

"What next?" I asked, looking around. Danny and Tom simply shrugged.

"I want food," Dougie groaned. "I'm starving!"

"Food!" Harry agreed.

This turned out to be a problem when Tom admitted that he had forgotten to go to the store, and therefore didn't have enough food for a proper meal.

"Ugh, you men are useless. Give me your keys. I'll get food and you can go write songs or whatever it is you do." I teased.

"Aw, you're so sweet."

Tom handed me the keys to his Mini Cooper and suggested I bring Harry along because he apparently didn't do a whole lot of writing. I didn't know Harry that well, so I was worried it would be a little awkward, but I figured some company would be nice. Harry ended up driving, since he knew the way. I fiddled around with the radio until 'First Date' by Blink-182 came on. It was one of my favorite Blink-182 songs. We ended up talking about our favorite bands until we arrived at Tesco. It turned out he was a big fan of the Used as well.

We decided to pick up ingredients for spaghetti for dinner, as well as some food for the two days after. Harry actually turned out to be a really sweet and funny guy, and listening to his stories was a pretty good distraction from me thinking about Michael. We were driving past a small group of buildings when I yelled for Harry to pull over.

"What?!" he asked worried.

I pointed to the blue police box on the corner of the street, grinning.

"It looks like the TARDIS! I need a picture!" I explained, referencing the television show, Doctor Who. I stood next to it giving a thumbs-up while Harry snapped a picture on my phone. I forced him to take another one of both of us in front of it before he dragged me back to the car.

We made it back to Tom's house shortly after, carrying several bags of food. Harry and I started putting the groceries away, and I put a pot of water on the stove for it to boil. Dougie, Danny, and Tom seemed to realize we were back because they came down the stairs to check on dinner. I assumed they had been up working in Tom's music room.

"What took you guys so long?" Danny asked.

"Emma needed a picture with a box."

"…what?"

I glared at Harry. "You're making me sound crazy! It wasn't just a random box; it looked like the TARDIS!"

I took out my phone and showed the pictures we had taken. Shortly after, the pasta was cooked and ready. We sat down in the dining room for a 'pleasant family meal' as Danny put it. They guys were pretty tired from their earlier show, so instead of working on their songs, we decided to watch a movie.

Tom put _Back to the Future _into the DVD player and sat down next to me. This left Dougie and Danny on my right, but then Dougie decided he wanted to sit next to Harry, and Danny wanted to sit on the other side of the sectional, so finally the order ended up being Dougie, Harry, me, Tom, and Danny. Like that wasn't confusing or anything.

A loud banging woke me up from my sleep. The five of us had fallen asleep sometime during the movie. My feet were propped up on Tom's lap and my head had been resting on Harry's shoulder…awkward. The banging noise continued, and I realized someone was knocking at the door. Noticing the guys were still asleep, I groggily got up from the couch and went to see who the hell was knocking at 7 in the morning.

"What the hell?" I muttered as I opened the door. Michael was here.


	3. Chapter 3

"What are you doing here?" I hissed through my teeth, stepping outside to where Michael was standing. The stupid cheating bastard.

"Look, I'm sorry about everything. But we need to get back together."

"No, I really don't think we do." I told him. I hated Michael. I hated him so much. But I knew that I still wasn't over him, and if he continued to beg for us to get back together, there was a chance that I would cave. He needed to leave.

"Emma, I love you. You know I do. The thing with Samantha was all just a big mistake."

"You're an asshole; do you know that? What gives you the right to beg for my forgiveness after what you did?"

Michael looked a little ticked off at this statement. He was about to say something when the front door opened, revealing a very tired-looking Harry.

"What's going on?"

"I'll be inside in a minute."

He looked a little worried. "Alright…"

"Wow, are you sleeping with the whole band?"

"Excuse me?" It just donned on me that he was slightly drunk.

"You heard me. I don't know why I even bothered coming here when you were clearly whoring around."

Ouch. That hurt pretty badly coming from someone I had spent close to two years dating. Definitely no chance of me caving now. I felt my eyes water slightly as the whole situation came crashing down on me again. It was really time for me to get away from him.

"Yep, you're right," I said sarcastically. "Now if you don't mind, I'm going inside."

Harry was standing in the foyer when I walked back in, still wearing his clothes from yesterday. It occurred to me that I was still wearing last night's clothes as well, and my curls were all tangled up in the back of my head. I really couldn't have cared less at the moment.

"Hey, what was that about? Are you alright?" He asked gently.

_No. _I thought. The tears that I had tried so hard to keep in yesterday were finally about to let loose. He seemed to notice too because he pulled me down onto the stairs and wrapped his arms around me. I buried my face in his shoulder and just let myself cry for a few minutes. We sat in silence for a minute after the tears finally stopped, and I tried my best to stifle a yawn; it was still pretty early in the morning.

"C'mon," he said, pulling me to my feet. "Let's go back to sleep."

We made our way back to our previous spots on the couch with me curling up against him. It was both comforting and comfortable. I woke up a few hours later and realized I was the only one still asleep. I could smell Tom's infamous pancakes cooking in the kitchen. Following the smell, I was greeted by the sight of the four guys sitting around the kitchen table stuffing themselves with bacon and pancakes.

"Morning, Sleeping Beauty!" Tom greeted me. I groaned and attempted to pull my hair into a bun. Grabbing a plate, I took the spot next to Danny, which was, thankfully, far from Harry. I was pretty embarrassed about earlier in the morning.

"Someone woke up on the wrong side of the couch!" Dougie teased, smiling. I snorted a little bitterly and tried to avoid Harry's knowing glance. I disliked being pitied.

"I'm going to shower," I announced after breakfast. "Tom, can I borrow a shirt or something?"

"Yeah, sure! Let me get you something."

We walked up to his bedroom as Tom looked through his dresser for a t-shirt that would fit me. I sighed and sprawled out across his bed. Tom looked up at me, concerned.

"Are you alright? You seem down this morning. I guess with Michael and everything…" he trailed off.

"He came by this morning."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. He started off pretty much begging me to take him back and then proceeded to call me a whore, so that was nice."

Tom raised his eyebrows, clearly surprised, and apologized as if it was his fault. That was something I loved about him; he was incredibly sweet at times. He proceeded to give me an old Star Wars shirt to wear later and a hug. Tom was kind of the best person ever.


	4. Chapter 4

The next few hours went by pretty quickly. I showered and changed into my jeans from yesterday and the shirt Tom had lent me. I pulled my hair up into a messy bun, letting a few of my curls hang loose. Without any makeup on, I felt a little self-conscious, but there was nothing I could do about that at the moment. Shortly after, we made ourselves some sandwiches, and the guys worked on a few song lyrics.

I soon got to wondering if Michael was going to stay in London and keep the flat. He didn't have a job here or anything, but he did have some friends. That's something we would have to talk about. I _really _did not want to talk to him.

Instead I decided to call Ricky, a pretty close friend to both of us. Hopefully, he could help us sort out the situation.

"Hey, Emma. What's up?"

"Uh, not a lot. I actually need a favor…"

"Let me guess, you need me to be the middleman for you and Michael? The idiot's passed out on my couch right now, looks like he'll be there for a while."

"Oh, perfect. Just keep him there for a while. I'm going to swing by and get my stuff from the flat. Our rent is almost up, so I can just look for somewhere else to stay…" I babbled on.

"Alright…I'm sorry about you and Michael by the way," Ricky said sympathetically. "He really screwed up, didn't he?"

"Yeah, he did. Thanks for help, Ricky."

"Bye!"

I enrolled the boys to help me pack up my belongings from the flat. We all piled into Harry's car, considering it was bigger than Tom's, and drove to my place. I was thankful that I hadn't brought a lot of stuff with me to London; it would make the process a hell of a lot easier.

We were in my bedroom, shoving my clothes into a few of my duffle bags as fast as possible. The sooner we got out of here, the better. Grabbing a handful of jeans from a drawer, I was _delighted _to see Danny going through my bras. He lifted a pink lacey one up to his body and did a little dance around the room. Dougie was nearly in tears. Typical boys.

"Put that down Jones. It's not your size." I remarked, lightly shoving him out of the way so I could clean out the rest of that particular drawer before he got to it. We were done within two hours and back at Tom's house just as it was getting dark outside.

"Emma, I have the most brilliant idea!" Tom exclaimed as we were walking back inside. "Why don't you come and live with me?! I have that spare room that I never use, it would be perfect."

"Are you sure?" Huh. Living with Tom. It could actually be pretty fun come to think of it.

"Yeah, c'mon we can move all your bags into the spare right now!"

"Alright," I smiled back at him.

Tom reached over to hug me like an overexcited girl, and Danny, Dougie, and Harry all felt the need to join in.

"You'll be living on the same street as us!" Dougie yelled after pilling on top of the spontaneous group hug.

"_Great_," I teased. I was about to say something else when I heard the sound of rain hitting the roof. To say that I loved rain would be an understatement. I immediately ran to the closet near the front door and found a pair of Tom's old rain boots.

"Are you crazy? It's dark and pouring out there!" Harry asked, clearly questioning my sanity.

"It's gorgeous out! Be back in a bit."

I ran out into the street, letting the rain pour down over me. It felt good to be alone like this. I followed the street until I came across a bench overlooking a small pond. The rain sent ripples cascading across the dark water colliding into each other. It took me a while to realize I was crying. That was twice in one day. Just a few days ago, I had thought that Michael and I could possibly get married one day, with a family and everything. So much for that.

I thought back to this morning with Harry. As embarrassed as I was about my breakdown, I was really thankful for him. He was one of those guys that you could be comfortable around. Deciding that I had been outside for a lot longer than I had previously realized, I made my way back to Tom's- or should I say our house? It wasn't until I was back in the warmth of the house that I realized how cold I was. My clothes and hair were soaked with icy water, dripping down onto the tiles of the bathroom. I grabbed a baggy sweatshirt and a pair of leggings to change into, but still found myself shivering after the change of clothes.

Wrapping the big fleece blanket from the couch around my body, I decided to join the guys upstairs in Tom's music room.

"Are you okay?" Tom asked me, concerned. "You look blue."

"I'm just a little cold." The headache didn't come one until after I said this. I groaned and rested my head on the floor. Harry, who was sitting a few feet to my right, scooted over and lifted my head into his lap. I fell asleep listening to the strumming of Danny's guitar.

**A/N: Sorry, this chapter was written at 4 AM, so I'm not really sure if it's any good or not! Anyone have an idea who Emma is going to end up with? (;**


	5. Chapter 5

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! They made me want to write this one within the same day!**

I woke up in my bed at around midnight, according to the clock next to me. I felt like I was a little kid again, magically waking up in my bed after falling asleep in a different part of the house. My dad used to have to carry me to bed all the time. I heard the door creak open and saw a head peek around.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" Harry asked.

"Kinda crappy," I tried to hold back a sneeze.

"I brought some cold medicine," he lifted up the bottle as evidence. Harry sat down on the foot of the bed and handed me a small cup of cherry-flavored syrup.

"Thanks. Are you guys still working on songs?"

"Yep. Do you want to join us or go back to bed?"

"I'll come! It's not every day you get to watch the infamous McFly write songs."

I sat down next to Tom when we walked back in. Smiling, he handed me the acoustic guitar on his left. I looked at him questioningly, already forming a chord with my left hand. Tom was the one who got me into guitar as a kid. He was always so passionate about playing.

"C'mon, you can help with this one. You're almost as good of a musician as me," he said cheekily with a wink.

It wasn't until quarter to three that we decided to go to bed.

"I call sleeping with Tom!" Danny exclaimed before blushing. We laughed at how that came out.

"I don't want to sleep on the couch with Dougie! He farts in his sleep." Harry complained.

"Hey!"

"My bed's big enough for two." I told Harry.

"Alright!"

Twenty minutes later everyone was situated in bed, and Harry and I were on the topic of my old my town from when I had lived in England previously.

"There was this place that my dad used to take me where you could see all the stars. And it looked down on this amazing valley with a river and all these trees…" I trailed off, remembering the image in my mind.

"And you said it was only forty minutes away?"

"Something like that."

"Let's go!"

"Now?"

"Yes!"

I grinned at him and, silently, we got up and tiptoed out the front door, grabbing a stack of blankets to take with us. We blasted the radio in the car as I directed him to the place my dad had showed me long ago. Harry reared the car in so that the back was facing the valley. It was even better than I remembered. Spreading out the blankets in the back of his car to lie on, we popped the trunk door open and looked out to the sky.

"Wow." Harry breathed next to me.

"Mhm." I sighed and looked over at him with a smile.

Harry and I locked eyes, our bodies suddenly leaning in on their own accord. His lips captured mine, hungry and passionate. I rolled on top of him, lightly pushing my body up against his. We broke apart to catch our breath, his eyes shining in the dim light, before our lips met again.

We woke up to the sun breaking over the horizon, the clouds glowing shades of orange and red. Harry smiled at me, giving me a light kiss. I felt a little guilty, it was only two days since Michael and I broke up. But I liked Harry; he was different than Michael in a lot of ways.

"We should get back before anyone notices we were gone," he murmured in my ear.

"Yeah, you're right."

The car ride back was different than the first ride. Maybe just because we were tired, or possibly because we didn't have the previous adrenaline running through us from sneaking out. We didn't need loud music to fill the silence. We stayed quiet, enjoying each other's presence. Thankfully, everyone was still asleep when we got back. Harry and I were able to slip back into my bed without anyone realizing we had left in the first place. I fell back asleep in his arms.

**A/N: Wow, something actually happened in this chapter! I also realized that I've only had like one chapter with a cliffhanger, so I guess I better work on that! Hope you enjoy your second chapter of the day :) So is Emma going to end up with Harry in the end?**


	6. Chapter 6

I was the last to wake up in the morning, once again. I tend to be a late sleeper, but I was especially worn out from last night. After a quick shower, I pulled my hair into a high pony and slipped on a pair of dark skinnies and a My Chemical Romance shirt. The guys were watching TV in the living room. I stole a quick glance at Harry, his brown hair messily pushed up in the most gorgeous way, before plopping down on the couch next to him.

"Good afternoon, Emma!" Tom teased. Was it really that late? I glanced at the clock.

"Whoops…"

"How did you sleep?"

I suppressed a grin at the memory and saw Harry trying to do the same, making my straight face even harder to keep.

"Good," I casually replied with a shrug.

"I bet it was." Danny remarked, narrowing his eyes. I began to panic. Did he know?

"What makes you say that?" I asked cautiously.

"You didn't have to try to sleep with Tom snoring next to you!"

I let out a sigh of relief. A buzzing on my thigh alerted me of a new text message.

'_Close one, huh?' _

It was from Harry. I didn't reply, but flashed a smile at him. A little while later, we all decided to have some lunch. Tom begged me to make my 'famous' chicken parmesan, and I had no choice but to agree. How could you say no to that cute smile of his?

"I'll need to go to the store and get ingredients," I told him.

"I, um, already got stuff," Tom said sheepishly.

"Hey! What if I had said no?"

"Aw, Emma, I know you too well. You can never resist me!"

"_Wanker,_" I muttered under my breath.

"Hm, what was that I just heard?"

"Oh, shut it!"

I couldn't help but burst out in laughter. Tom joined in, his laugh a higher pitch than mine, making me laugh even harder. When my laughter finally came to an end, I got up to get the oven started.

"Where are you going?" Tom asked.

"To make your bloody chicken!"

"Oh, right."

I was in the process of sautéing the chicken when Harry came into the kitchen. He wrapped his arms around my waist from behind and rested his chin on my shoulder. I felt his lips barely graze down my ear before planting a small kiss on the spot where my jaw met my neck. I frowned when he pulled away from me.

"Wouldn't want you to mess up that lovely dish of yours," Harry said with a cheeky grin.

I pouted at him as he left the kitchen and resumed my work browning the chicken. I transferred the chicken into a casserole dish with a layer of tomato sauce before placing it in the oven. It needed about 20 minutes to cook, so after cleaning up a little bit, I decided to head back to the living room. Right before turning the corner, I heard my name being used in whatever conversation was going on.

"So what's going on with you and Emma?" I heard Tom ask.

"What makes you ask that?" Harry replied.

"I don't know…you guys have been acting weird. Do you like her?"

"I promise you, mate, that I don't. You know I would never do anything like that. I hardly even know her."

"So, no feelings for her?"

"None at all."

Quietly, I turned around and went up to my room, slamming my door. God, I was pissed. The stupid bastard was just using me.

**A/N: Sorry for the short chapter!**


	7. Chapter 7

Tom came into my room a few minutes later.

"Food is ready!"

"You guys eat without me," I gave a fake cough. "I'm still feeling sick from yesterday. I'm going to take a nap or something."

Tom looked concerned. "Do you want me to get you anything? Medicine, juice, more blankets?"

"No, I'm alright. Thanks though."

I got up to lock the door after he left. I was so done with men. First Michael and now Harry. And I had actually thought that Harry was different. I should have known better. Around half an hour later, I heard heavy footsteps walking up the staircase and eventually a knock at my door.

"Emma, are you awake?" It was Harry. He tried the doorknob to find it was locked. "Emma? We're leaving, and I wanted to say bye."

I didn't reply, I just let him think that I was asleep. A few moments later, I heard those same footsteps walk down the stairs. When I heard the front door shut, I got out of bed and unlocked my door. Tom came back up to my room, sitting on the edge of my bed.

"Are you ok?" He could tell that I wasn't; he knew me too well.

"Not really."

Tom put his arm around me, letting me rest my head on his shoulder.

"Hey, Tom?"

"Mhm?"

"Will you play me something?" I looked up and gave him my best puppy dog eyes. "Please?"

"Yeah, of course."

He quickly left to grab his guitar before returning to sit on my bed. "What do you want me to play?"

"Hm…POV?"

"Alright. I haven't played it in a while, but I can try…" Tom's voice trailed off until his eyes met mine. "Is this because of Michael?"

"Yeah." I said with a sigh. It wasn't a total lie. I was upset because of his best friend as well…Tom just didn't need to know that.

_I'm looking at you from another point of view,__  
__I don't know how the hell I fell in love with you,__  
__I'd never wish for anyone to feel the way I do._

"You know he didn't -and still doesn't- deserve you." Tom told me, after finishing the song.

"Thank you," I said, rested my head on his shoulder again. "For everything."

"Don't mention it."

We stayed in silence for a few moments, both of us deep in thought. It wasn't until Marvin decided to join us that Tom said something.

"The boys and I are going to the studio tomorrow to record some songs and stuff, do you want to come with?"

"Aw Tom, sorry I can't! I have to work Mondays through Wednesdays, remember?" I had never been so thankful for my work before. I would actually prefer waiting tables to seeing Harry at the moment.

"Oh, right." I felt a little bad watching his face fall. "Maybe next time then?"

"Yeah! Sounds good."

"Alright," he said with a smile. "I like this- just spending the day relaxing. It's a nice break from everything."

I nodded my head in agreement. Tom started playing with my curls, bouncing the brown ringlets. I was used to it; people played with my hair all the time.

"Boing!" he said with a laugh. "I'm going to make some tea. Want some?"

"Yes, please! Two sugars."

"I know, I know."

I sprawled out across the bed and buried my head in my pillow. My groan at hearing my phone go off was muffled.

"What do you want from me?" I muttered, annoyed.

It was a text from the _wonderful_ Harry Judd.

'Hey Emma :-)'

As trifling as it sounded, I really hated when people put stupid noses in their smiley faces. I guess it fit him well. I shut my phone off, not wanting to deal with him at the moment. Or ever for that matter.

**A/N: Sorry for another short chapter! This one was a bit of a filler, there should be a good amount of drama in the next one! (;**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed!**


	8. Chapter 8

It had been two days since the Harry incident. I was working at my job as a waitress at a small pizza joint when the door opened, revealing four new customers. I called over my friend Kayla when the band starting walking towards my direction. Kayla was one of the first people I had met in London; we got to know each other after working the same shifts.

"Hey, Em!" Tom called out. "We just finished recording for the day and thought we'd stop by for some dinner."

"Alright! This is my friend Kayla," I said, gesturing to the blonde girl next to me. "Kayla, this is Tom, Dougie, Danny…and Harry."

I watched Harry's face turn into confusion at the sour tone of my voice. Turning away from him, I saw Kayla laughing as she looked at Danny.

"Well, if it isn't Mr. Danny Jones."

"Hey, Kayla," Danny responded with a smile.

To everyone's surprise, Danny reached over and gave her a huge hug, the two of them wearing matching grins as they pulled apart.

"Do you guys know each other?" Dougie asked, voicing everyone's thoughts.

"Danny and I go way back. He was my first boyfriend when we were like, what, fifteen or sixteen? But we were pretty close friends for a while before that."

Danny nodded in agreement and added, "We decided we would be better as friends, but then we just drifted apart... It's really good to see you, Kaykay."

"Kaykay?" Tom asked as Kayla began to blush.

"Shut it, Danny. There is no way you're using that nickname again."

Danny gave a cheeky wink as Kayla excused herself to ring up a bill for some customers.

"My shift ends in ten minutes, so why don't you guys grab a table, and I'll join you in a bit." I told them.

After my shift had ended, I walked over to where the boys were sitting. They had grabbed a booth, leaving an empty spot next to Dougie and a spot next to Harry and the end of the bench. I chose the spot next to Dougie, making Harry frown slightly. I don't know why it would matter to him so much. He had said himself that he didn't even like me. Harry's frown continued to deepen as the night went on and I continued to ignore him.

"Emma, can you hand me a napkin?" Harry civilly asked.

I pretended not to hear. He could reach over and grab his own damn napkin.

"Emma." He repeated.

I turned around and grabbed a stack of paper napkins, pushing them towards him coldly. I could tell he was getting a little pissed off at my behavior, but it wasn't as if it wasn't justified. He deserved the treatment he was getting.

"Emma…" Harry started.

"What? I gave you your damn napkins."

Dougie turned to me, a little surprised. Thankfully, Tom and Danny were too immersed in their own conversation to notice. Harry stood up.

"I need to talk to you."

"Fine."

I got up, adjusting my skirt so it covered everything, and followed Harry out of the restaurant. He crossed his arms as we reached the sidewalk.

"What's your problem?" he demanded.

"I don't know what you're talking about." I said in a falsely innocent voice.

"Actually, I think you do."

"Fine. You want to know my problem? You are my problem. You acted like you liked me, and you never actually meant any of it. It really fucking hurt after what happened with Michael."

"What makes you say that I never meant any of it?" Harry asked.

"I overheard you saying it to Tom!"

Harry cringed, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly.

"I didn't mean what I said to him."

"Then why would you say it?"

Harry looked panicked. He rubbed the bridge of his nose, taking a deep breath.

"Emma, I'm really not supposed to be saying any of this," he quietly said. "I-I didn't want to hurt Tom by telling him there was something going on between us. Or by telling him that I really like you."

"Why would that hurt Tom?" I was confused. Harry really liked me? And what would that matter to Tom?

"Are you really that blind? Tom likes you…a lot."


	9. Chapter 9

"Are you really that blind? Tom likes you…a lot."

I froze.

"No he doesn't," I immediately denied. "There's no way."

"Oh, really?" Harry raised his eyebrows. "Em, he told us himself."

I shook my head unconsciously. Harry took a step closer to me.

"Is there any chance that you, maybe, like him back?" he asked in a soft voice.

"I've never thought about him like that." I answered truthfully. I really hadn't. It felt weird to imagine anything romantic between Tom and me. We had been friends for so long that I couldn't imagine anything different. Looking back up at Harry, I saw relief quickly flash across his face. He took another step closer.

"I'm sorry that I hurt you, Emma." Harry said, in a voice barely above a whisper. "Forgive me?"

I nodded. I wasn't sure which one of us had moved closer this time, but suddenly Harry was right in front of me. His hand reached out towards my face, thumb tracing my jaw line, before gently lifting up my chin with his finger and placing his lips on my own. We pulled apart a few seconds later, glancing around to make sure no one saw us. Thankfully, it was a generally quiet street and there was nobody around.

"We should probably go back inside…"

"Yeah, you're right." Harry agreed, giving my hand a final squeeze.

We made our way back to the table, taking our original spots. Danny, Tom, and Dougie were all staring at us.

"What was that all about?" Tom asked. I felt myself blush, remembering that he supposedly had feelings for me.

"Um, we just had a bit of a misunderstanding, but we're all good now, so…" I trailed off awkwardly, as the guys continued to look at me.

"What about?"

"Nothing really." I said a little too quickly. Tom's face fell slightly, realizing that he wasn't going to get anymore out of me. I actually felt pretty bad; we told each other everything. He ran his hand through his blonde hair, which fell past his ears. He really did need a haircut. Tom looked up and caught me watching him. I glanced down at the empty plate in front of me.

Danny was the first to break the silence by asking me for Kayla's number.

"Why don't you just ask her yourself?"

"She left while you and Harry were sorting out your 'misunderstanding'."

"Oh, alright. Give me your phone."

Danny handed me his phone, and I entered Kayla's information into it. I was still a little weirded out that they knew each other to begin with. After paying the bill, we decided to head back to our houses.

"We parked around the corner, so it's a little bit of a walk," Dougie notified me when we left the restaurant.

"That's okay. Beats taking the bus."

Harry was in the middle of a conversation with Dougie, so I decided to walk next to Tom. My hand accidently brushed against his, and then, without really realizing it, we were holding hands like we usually did. It was just habit. I thought back to when Harry asked if I was blind for not realizing that Tom liked me. Why hadn't I noticed before? I loved Tom; I had for a while, but not in the romantic sense of the word. He was my best friend, and I didn't know him as anything else. Blushing again at the thought of Tom liking me in a different way, I let go of his hand and made an excuse of needing to look for something in my bag.

I stood off to the side, letting Dougie, Tom, and Danny pass me, until Harry and I were walking a few steps behind them.

"How come he gets to hold your hand in public like that and I don't?" Harry whispered, pouting playfully. But I detected a hint of jealousy in his voice. It was a bit messed up, wasn't it? We both liked each other, but neither of us was willing to hurt Tom. There was no way I could let myself do that to him. It was for the same reason Tom couldn't tell me that he liked me. We couldn't lose each other.

I rode back home with Tom; Dougie and Danny had driven back with Harry. I was silent for most of the ride back.

"You okay?" Tom asked as we pulled into the drive. "You've been acting weird."

"Don't I always?"

"Fine, weirder than usual," he chuckled.

"Nope, I'm fine!" I lied. "Just being my normal self…or I guess not-so-normal self."

"If you say so..."

**A/N: I've been having a bit of a hard time writing lately because I'm not exactly sure where I want this story to go. There are a whole lot of paths that I could take from here, so it's hard to pick!**

**Also, thank you to LeahPoll who has been reviewing super nicely (:**


	10. Chapter 10

Three days later I was playing around on Tom's keyboard, when I got a call from Harry. I smiled as his face appeared on my screen; it was a picture he had sent me during one of our many texting conversations in the past few days.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Em!"

"Hello, Mr. Judd," I responded playfully.

"Has Tom left for his parent's house yet?"

"Yep, he left like an hour ago." Tom was spending tonight and most of tomorrow at his parents' house to celebrate his dad's birthday with the family.

"Any chance you'd want to come over?"

"Sure! I'll be over in like 20 minutes."

"Sounds great. See you then!"

"Bye, Harry." I hung up the phone.

Both nervous and excited, I ran to my closet and slipped on a navy lace dress and a pair of cream-colored ankle boots. The outfit was nice, but still pretty casual. I stopped in the bathroom to touch up on my hair, before grabbing my purse and leaving for Harry's house. I pushed down on the doorbell, and Harry appeared in the doorframe moments later. He was wearing a grey v-neck tee with jeans, looking gorgeous as always.

"Hi," he grinned at me. "Come in!"

"So, this is where Harry Judd spends most of his time, huh?"

"The very place."

His house had a very open plan, allowing me to see his living room, dining room, and kitchen just from the spot next to his door. I liked it.

"Do you want to watch a movie or something?" Harry wondered.

"Sure!"

We ended up curling up on his leather couch with a bowl of popcorn and The Dark Knight for the next few hours.

"Are you going to give me a tour of your house?" I asked after the movie was finished.

"I'd love to!" Harry said, grabbing my hand and leading me to the different rooms in his house. It was a few minutes later when we arrived at the final door. "And this would be my room."

I sat down on the side of his bed and patted on the comforter beside me until Harry sat down next to me.

"I like your room," I told him honestly.

"I like you."

I felt my cheeks turning slightly pink, even though it wasn't new information. "I like you too."

I leaned towards him, placing my lips on his.

"Emma, you look absolutely gorgeous tonight," he murmured in my ear. Our lips met again in a rush of passion. I pulled up on the bottom of his shirt, and Harry, knowing what I was trying to do, lifted the shirt of his head. He helped me remove my dress as he took off the rest of his own clothes, one thing leading to another…

I woke up next to Harry, our bodies barely covered by the sheets. Last night had been unexpected and a little sudden, but I didn't regret it at all. It had been amazing. I looked over at Harry, admiring how attractive he looked in his sleep. I leaned over, kissing him on the cheek, as he began to stir.

"G'morning," he said groggily with a smile.

"Morning."

Harry climbed out of bed, putting on a pair of sweatpants. He handed me one of his shirts to wear, so that I could cover myself.

"Do you want breakfast?"

"Mmm. Yes, please."

Harry made toast and eggs for us, and we sat down on his couch to watch the news while we ate. There were three quick knocks at the door before it opened, revealing Danny holding a set of keys. His eyes widened as he saw us together on the couch, a moment of uncomfortable silence lasting until Harry spoke a few seconds later.

"Danny…" he said cautiously. Danny's eyes shifted between the two of us. I was suddenly conscious of what I was wearing- or more importantly, wasn't wearing.

"I'm going to go change…" I told them, pulling down Harry's shirt so that everything was covered properly. I went into Harry's room to slip my dress back on, but it didn't stop me from hearing everything that was being said in the other room. Danny wasn't exactly being quiet.

"Harry, what the hell!" I heard Danny hiss. "You know Emma is off limits!"

"Well it's not as if she was getting together with Tom anytime soon. And haven't you ever heard of knocking?"

"So that makes it okay to shag her, does it? You only just started talking to her a week ago. And I did knock!"

I cringed. Danny was right; I hadn't been with Harry for long, if you could even say we were together. I really did like Harry though, even if it had only been a little over a week.

"It's not like she was a one night stand! I like her, alright?" Harry yelled back at Danny.

Fully dressed, I walked back into the living room.

"I think I'm going to head out…" I said awkwardly. Harry nodded, pulling me in for a kiss. I could feel Danny's eyes watching us. I avoided him as I made my way to the door.

"I'll call you later, okay?" Harry said.

"Okay," I told him. "Bye Harry…Danny."

Wonderful.


	11. Chapter 11

As promised, Harry called later that evening. I laid my back down on my bed as I picked up the phone.

"Hey!"

"Hey. Sorry about earlier…with Danny." Harry said back.

"He's not going to tell Tom, is he?"

"No," he said quickly. "No. Danny wouldn't do that."

I sighed out in relief. I still wasn't ready to hurt Tom with that information. Maybe later, if Harry and I became more serious, but definitely not now.

"So…I'm off limits, huh?" I asked hesitantly.

"You heard that?"

"Yeah."

"It was sort of an unspoken thing, after Tom told us he liked you."

"When was that?"

"I think when he found out you were going to be living in London. Four months ago, maybe? But I'm not sure when he first started fancying you and all. You were with Michael, so I guess there was a bit of a reason to keep it to himself."

At least four months, and I never knew. I got up from my bed, holding my phone up to my ear but not saying anything. I wandered downstairs looking at pictures and random possessions that Tom had lying around the house.

"So what are you doing?" I finally asked, changing the subject.

"Not a whole lot. You?"

"Same."

We stayed silent for a moment – not uncomfortable. Just silent.

"I just wanted to say that last night was amazing…and really special," Harry told me.

"I feel the same way," I said with a smile.

I heard a car door close outside. Looking out the window, I saw Tom making his way towards the house.

"Shoot, I have to go. Tom's here."

"Alright," he sounded a little disappointed. "Bye Em."

"Bye!"

I placed my phone into the pocket of my pants and went to open the door for Tom. He greeted me, walking through the doorway in his green Mickey Mouse shirt.

"How were your parents?" I asked as he set his bag on the ground

"Great! They both say hi."

"Tell them I say hi back the next time you talk to them."

I followed Tom into the kitchen, leaning up against the counter as he searched his refrigerator for something to eat.

"What did you do while I was gone?"

I froze for a second. "Not a lot. Just watched some Doctor Who and stuff."

It wasn't a _complete _lie. I had watched the last half of an episode this afternoon.

"Typical," he said with a grin.

I gave him a guilty smile back. We sat down at the table as Tom at his newly made sandwich. I picked up my copy of _Looking for Alaska_ and was just starting a new page when he spoke again.

"I talked to Danny earlier," Tom began swallowing the last bite of his sandwich.

"Yeah?" A million thoughts raced through my head. Had Danny told him? Did he know about Harry?

"Mhm. I heard he went out with Kayla the other day. Had a good time."

God dammit. The boy nearly scared me half to death.

"Yeah, she told me about it!" I said with a fake smile. I was happy for her and Danny though, honestly. I suddenly felt uncomfortable with Tom next to me, knowing that I had slept with his best friend behind his back. He had absolutely no idea what was going on. "I think I'm going to bed. I'm pretty tired…"

"Ok. Goodnight!"

I went upstairs to my room, changing into a pair of boxer shorts and a sweatshirt. Climbing into my bed, I heard my phone beep.

'_Goodnight x'_

It was from Harry. I smiled as I curled myself up in the blankets, falling asleep in minutes.

**A/N: Sorry it was so short and so much dialogue! I just started school again last week and already have so much homework, so I haven't had a whole lot of time to write. This chapter was a bit of a filler, so the next chapter should be better! Thanks to everyone for reading/commenting (:**


	12. Chapter 12

"Emma!" Tom called, grabbing my attention. He held two shirts up to his body. "Which one?"

"You're such a girl. But I like the striped one," I said, pointed to the blue and white shirt on his right.

"Hmm…yeah, you're right."

I smirked at him and took a sip of the tea that Tom had left on the table.

"Hey, that's mine!"

"Relax, Fletcher. I just took a sip."

He scrunched his face up at me. "Fine, but I don't feel bad about leaving you home alone tonight anymore."

"Oh, how will I live without you here?" I teased.

"You won't, obviously."

I grinned up at him. "Yeah, you're right."

Fifteen minutes later, Tom appeared back in my room.

"Alright, I'm heading out. I'm guessing I won't be back until around 2. Don't spend the whole night watch Doctor Who."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Yes, mother."

"Bye, Em!"

"Bye!"

I waited ten minutes after Tom had left before texting Harry.

'_The coast is clear x'_

Harry came around the house shortly after. I bounced in my shoes as I opened the door. It had been a week since Harry and I had been alone together, and although we saw each other a few times since then, we were always surrounded by other people. He smiled at me, putting his arm around my waist and pulling my body closer to his for a kiss.

"Hi," I said with a grin.

"Hi back."

I grabbed onto his hand and led him to the kitchen.

"Cookies!"

"What?" Harry asked, looking around the room in search of cookies.

"Let's make some!" My face lit up.

Harry laughed but agreed. We pulled the necessary ingredients out and began mixing them together. When the dough was ready, and Harry's back was turned, I quickly stuck my finger in the bowl and popped it into my mouth.

"I saw that!" Harry said.

"Saw what?" I asked innocently.

Harry raised an eyebrow at me. "I saw you do this," he stuck his own finger in the bowl. But instead of eating the dough, he wiped it on my face.

"Harry!"

"Yes?" he said with a grin, challenging me.

I laughed. "We are not doing the whole cliché food fight."

"Aww..." he fake-pouted.

I couldn't help but smile at how cute he looked. I wiped the dough off my cheek as best as I could.

"You missed some," Harry murmured, leaning forward to kiss my cheek. "All good."

We put the cookies in the oven and set the timer.

"What do you want to do while we wait?" I asked.

"I have an idea…"

Harry lifted me up on the counter so that we were the same height. Our lips met as I ran my hand through his brown hair, pulling him closer. His lips trailed down my neck before capturing my lips again.

"Harry-" I was cut off by his lips on mine.

"Mhmm?"

"Let's go to my room…" I said with a small moan.

Harry nodded and led the way to my bedroom, laying me down on my bed and propping himself up on top of me. I felt his tongue explore my mouth, and I used my own to trace his lips. Rolling us over so that I was on top, I straddled him with a small giggle. I pushed my hair off to the side and leaned forward to kiss him.

Harry and I quickly broke apart, hearing a cough come from the doorway. I froze.


	13. Chapter 13

Tom was standing in the doorframe with an almost unreadable expression. Realizing that I was still lying on top of Harry, I quickly positioned myself so that I was sitting on the edge of the bed. Guilt flooded over me, and I was afraid to meet both Tom and Harry's eyes.

"I hope I wasn't interrupting anything," Tom said sarcastically.

I bit my lip, but didn't say anything. Next to me I could hear Harry shifting uncomfortably.

"So, how long has this been going on?" he asked in a sour tone, gesturing to the two of us.

"A few weeks," I told him, finally meeting his eyes.

"And, what, you guys didn't plan on telling me? Or anyone else?"

"Danny knew about it…"

"And Dougie," Harry quietly added.

This was news to me. I looked up at Harry, questioningly.

"Danny told him."

Danny really couldn't keep his mouth shut, could he. Frowning, I turned towards Tom again, noticing the hurt look on his face. I felt my stomach twist at his expression; I had done this to him.

"Well, I'm glad you guys cared enough to tell me." Tom remarked bitterly before leaving the room.

I noticed that Harry had the same guilty look as I did.

"Maybe you should go…" I suggested. "I'll go talk to Tom."

Harry nodded. "I think you're right. We'll talk later, yeah?"

"Yeah."

I walked downstairs with him and was met with the smell of something burning. I wrinkled my nose as I spoke.

"Shit, that would be the cookies."

"Lovely."

I sighed as Harry bent down to put his shoes on.

"We really fucked up, didn't we?" I heard him mutter.

I nodded, leaning against the wall. We should have told Tom earlier. Instead, he had to find out about our relationship, whatever that relationship even was, in the worst possible way. Harry's blue eyes held mine for a moment before I looked away. We stood silent for a second.

"Bye, Em." Harry said, giving me a hasty kiss on the check.

"Bye."

I made my way to the kitchen as Harry closed the door behind him. Grabbing an oven mitt, I pulled the sheet of burnt cookies out of the oven. Throwing them away, I set the sheet in the sink and began to scrub it down. It was only after ten minutes that I realized I was just trying to put off my talk with Tom. Nervously, I ran my fingers through my hair and stuffed my hands in my pockets, walking up to Tom's room. I knocked on the door, but there was no response.

"Tom?" I called out. I tried the doorknob to find it was locked. "I'm sorry that I hurt you, okay? I know Harry is too."

Tom opened the door a few seconds later. "What makes you think that I care about you and Harry?" he asked coldly. "Why would I be hurt?"

I wasn't what to say.

"I'm sorry."I repeated.

"Don't waste your apology," Tom said flatly. "I don't care."

He shut the door in my face. As if I wasn't feeling crappy enough about the whole situation. It was best if I got out of the house, for both Tom's sake and my own. I called up Kayla.

"Hey Emma."

"Is it alright if I stay over tonight?"

She paused, judging the urgency in my voice. "Yeah, of course. I'll pick you up in twenty, okay?"

"You're the best."

"I try. See you then."

I walked back into my room and packed an overnight bag, grabbing Tom's old Star Wars shirt at the last second. I still hadn't returned it to him; I always felt so comforted wearing it. Quickly scribbling down a note explaining where I was going, I hurried downstairs to wait by the door. The sound of Tom's guitar could be heard as I waited. I recognized the tune as 3 AM by Busted.

_I don't give a damn about you__  
__No nothing can change my mind__  
__No way__  
__I'm happy just to let you walk away__  
__Don't think about you at night__  
__I'm happy to be alone__  
__It's okay__  
__But that was yesterday…_


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Sorry it's been so long since my last update. I've been really busy with homework. Enjoy the longer chapter and sorry for any grammar/spelling mistakes! I only had a minute or two to proof-read. Reviews are always appreciated! :)**

I was sitting on Kayla's couch, staring at the television in front of me but not actually watching. The situation with Tom had made me too upset, mostly at myself, to really do anything at the moment. Kayla had gone to bed hours ago, but I wasn't tired yet.

I felt my phone vibrating on the table beside me, wondering who the hell would call me at three in the morning. It was Harry. Letting it ring out, I pulled my blanket tighter around me. I wasn't really in the mood to talk to him; some selfish part deep inside me thought it was Harry fault for making me like him. Harry called one more time, but I hit the ignore button quickly. Maybe he would get the message that I didn't want to talk to him. Apparently he didn't because the phone began vibrating once more. Annoyed, I picked up my phone with the intention of hitting ignore, but instead of Harry calling, Danny's name flashed across the screen. I decided to pick up.

"Hello?"

"Emma!" Danny sounded relieved that I had picked up. "I'm going to be over at Kayla's to pick you up in 5 minutes. Tom's in the hospital."

I tensed up. "What happened? Is he okay?" I demanded.

"All I've been told is that he's been in a car crash." I could hear his voice shaking. I felt sick. "I'm just around the corner. Come meet me outside."

"Okay."

"I have to call Harry and tell him I got a hold of you. See you in a minute."

"Bye."

I didn't want to have to wake Kayla up and wait for her to get ready, so I left a note and ran out to Danny's car. He sped the whole way to the hospital, neither of us talking. We met Harry and Dougie in the waiting room. None of us had been told what had happened. After ten minutes of silence, minus for the sound of Harry nervously tapping his foot on the ground next to me, a worker came out to talk to us.

"Are any of you his immediate family?" she asked.

"No, they're in the United States right now," I replied, suddenly feeling guilty that Tom's parents had no idea what had happened. "But we're just as good as his immediate family."

The woman gave us a false smile. "Sorry, but only Tom's immediate family can see him at the moment. You'll have to wait a little longer."

I fell back into my seat, frustrated. I contemplated calling Tom's parents, but I didn't want to worry them until we got all of the details.

"Emma?" Harry asked softly beside me.

"Mhm?"

"We've hardly said two words to each other." He noted.

I shrugged. "I'm just worried about Tom."

"Same."

"I know."

I glanced at the three boys around me. Dougie looked the worst; he kept running his hands through his hair nervously and sighing.

"Hey, Doug." I called.

"Yeah?" he asked, looking up from the floor.

"It's going to be okay." And honestly, I didn't know if that was true. But that's the sort of thing you're supposed to tell people. It's all going to be okay.

Dougie half-smiled at me, before we all returned to our silent state. After a while, the woman came back.

"Are you Emma?" she asked, gesturing towards me.

"Yes, that's me."

"Tom asked to see you."

I stood up and looked back at Harry, who motioned for me to go with the woman. She led me into Tom's room, before walking out and closing the door behind her. In all honesty, I had expected Tom to be in much worse condition than he actually was. There was a cast around his left leg, a series of cuts and bruises on arms, and a bandage around his head. I ran over to the side of his bed.

"Tom! What happened?"

"My tire fucking blew out, and I lost control of the car. Crashed into a stop sign. It could've been a lot worse. My leg's broken, and I have a minor concussion." He said monotonously.

I hadn't expected him to still be this angry at me, but I could tell in the way that he glared at me that he hadn't given up any of his anger.

"Why the hell were you driving at three in the morning?"

"To bloody see you, that's why! It's all Busted's fault." He snapped. I thought back to the song he was singing earlier; he must have gotten inspired. I could have laughed, but I was too annoyed.

"That was stupid. You could have just called!"

"It's not my fault that the tire blew out! And why would you care anyway?"

"Will you shut up already? I care about you, ok? You know that. Stop trying to make me out as the bad guy, I haven't done anything wrong!"

"You FUCKED Harry!" he yelled.

"I can do what I want. You can't make decisions for me."

"Jesus Christ, Emma! Do you really not see how much I love you?" Tom yelled out, before pausing, seemingly regretting what he had said. He looked up at me to judge my reaction. I sat down on the edge of his bed.

"I love you too, Tom," I said softly. "You know that, right?"

"It's not the same. You don't love me like _that_."

"…I don't know." Had I just said that? Tom looked confused as well.

"What?"

"I don't know. Maybe…," I stopped to think. How did I feel about Tom? This was the first time that he had been open with me about his feelings. Before this, I thought that I had figured out how I felt; I liked Harry and loved Tom as a friend. But there was something nagging at me. What if I was blind to my own feelings too? "Maybe…it's possible…that I love you more than as my best friend. Tom, I really don't know."

A mixture of confusion and hope glinted in his eyes. I stood up. "I'm going to go get the guys. They'll want to see you."

He nodded slightly, preoccupied with his own thoughts. I took one more glance at Tom before I left. How _did _I feel about him?


	15. Chapter 15

I walked out of Tom's hospital room feeling beyond frustrated. Had I just told him that I might have feelings for him? I hadn't even realized it up until that moment. I was happy being with Harry; he was really amazing. But hurting Tom because of our relationship almost made it not worth it. I was confused. How had I ended up in some twisted, cliché love triangle?

The guys were waiting outside of the door and could sense my panic.

"What's going on? Is Tom okay? What happened?" Danny demanded. He was tapping his foot impatiently against the tiled floor.

"He's not too seriously hurt. Danny, relax. He'll be fine," I answered. "Go in and see for yourself."

Danny and Dougie were through the door in seconds, but Harry lagged behind.

"Emma, are you okay?" he asked, gently. "We heard yelling."

"Tom and I got into a fight. It's just – ugh. I don't know."

Harry looked at me questioningly, but didn't ask me to further explain. Instead, he wrapped his arms around my waist and kissed me softly on the top of my head. I responded with a kiss on his lips.

"Tom…told me he loves me." I admitted.

A deep sigh came from Harry. His expression darkened slightly, but, in a way, he kind of looked accepting.

"What did you tell him?"

"I said, uh-"

Harry cut me off. "No, it's okay. Don't tell me. It doesn't change what I'm feeling."

"And what are you feeling?"

He closed his eyes for a second and gave another small sigh. "I don't think I'll ever be able to love you as much as Tom does."

"Harry…"

"No, wait. Let me finish. It's selfish of me to want you for myself when you could do so much better with Tom. I care about you a lot, Emma. But Tom…Tom _loves _you. Really properly loves you. And you deserve that."

I knew he was probably right about Tom loving me more, but I didn't want to let Harry go. I really was the selfish one.

"I don't know how I feel about Tom, though! But I do know is how I feel about you. And I really like you, Harry."

Harry groaned. "You're making this really hard for me. We need to end this. Look what's happened to Tom!" He pointed in the direction of Tom's room.

"Alright, fine. Whatever."

So maybe I was being a little immature. But I didn't know if I would even _be _with Tom if Harry and I ended things.

"Emma, seriously. You know that you can't hurt Tom. And I don't want to hurt him either! He's my best friend. And us being _us_ hurts him."

Unfortunately, he was absolutely right. Harry looked directly at me, his blue eyes boring into mine, trying to make me realize what had to be done. I gave a small nod and received a sad smile in return.

"One last thing, though," he said quietly.

"Hm?"

Harry stepped closer and placed his lips on mine. It was bittersweet; a kiss goodbye.

He pulled away first, and I stepped back a few steps. The fluorescent light of the hospital cast a weird glow on his body. I was reluctant to leave; it was the last intimate moment we would have, but it had to be done at some point.

"I'm going to head home. You should go see Tom."

"Yeah."

"Bye, Harry."

"Bye," he said with an overdone smile.

I decided to go back to Tom's instead of Kayla's. I needed somewhere where I felt comfortable. The taxi ride back was silent and thoughtful. I realized how scared I was to have a relationship with Tom. All the things that could go wrong. One of us could hurt the other, and we would never be the same.

At home, I took a long shower, letting the hot water scorch my skin and steam up around me. I changed into a comfy pair of sweats, my wet hair tied up in a messy bun on top of my head. I fell asleep in Tom's bed.

**A/N: So sorry for the wait! The story will probably be done within three chapters, but I'm not really sure how everything will play out yet. Hope you liked it (:**


	16. Chapter 16

"Emma," Tom's voice called out, waking me up.

"Hmm?" I groaned groggily.

"What are you doing in my bed?"

I opened my eyes. Was I in Tom's bed? It was too early for this. "I don't know. It's comfortable."

"Fine, but move over."

I rolled over to the right side of the bed and felt Tom's weight on the other side. I was about to fall asleep again when I realized.

"Hey, you're not in the hospital anymore." I stated.

"Nope, I got released."

I thought about answering, but, before I knew it, I fell asleep. I woke up to the smell of eggs and coffee lingering in the air. My first thought was about Harry. I wondered what he was doing right now. How was he feeling? I wanted to be mad at him for ending whatever it was we had, but I knew he did the right thing. Harry was the stronger one.

I walked down to the kitchen table, where Tom was sitting with his breakfast. I glanced at the cast on his leg and grimaced.

"Morning."

"Good morning," Tom smiled up at me. "I invited Harry over. We didn't really get a chance to… talk about…things, and he wanted to see how I was doing and stuff. But I'm guessing he already told you because….well, you know," he rambled on.

Did he not know that Harry and I were no longer together? I had guessed that Harry would have told him after I left the hospital, but maybe not.

"When's he coming over?"

Tom glanced at his watch. "In around 10 minutes."

Shit. I needed an excuse to get out of the house. "I'm going to get dressed and go get some groceries." I told him.

I ran upstairs and slipped into a pair of jeans and a flowy top. I tied my hair up and put on a coat of mascara, pulling on my converse as I went back downstairs. I had just grabbed Tom's car keys when the front door opened.

Harry's eyes widened slightly as he saw me. "Hey, Emma."

"Hi," I shyly replied.

I glanced over at Tom, who was watching the two of us with a confused expression.

"I'm going out. Um, nice seeing you." I said awkwardly, making my way out of the house.

I made a long trip out of what would have been a short errand, wasting my time until I could be certain Harry would be out of the house. I drove back to the house, grabbing the bags of groceries from the trunk as I walked inside. Tom was seated on the couch and glanced up as I walked in.

"I would help you with those but…" he gestured to the crutches that were leaning against the side of the couch.

"No, it's fine. They're light."

Tom grabbed his crutches and followed me into the kitchen.

"So…you and Harry broke up?" he asked softly. I could tell there was hope among his sympathy.

"I'm not sure if 'broke up' is the right term, but yeah. We're not together."

Neither of us said anything for a while as I put away the food I had just bought.

"Emma…does this meaning anything for us?"

I let out a small, humorless laugh. "I just need time to myself, Tom. I don't want to jump into anything so soon after Michael and Harry. It's just been too much, and I'm not ready to be in a relationship again anytime soon."

Tom nodded his head. "I get it. Can we just go back to how things were before all of this? Just two friends. Bestfriends."

"I'd like that a lot."

Tom grinned at me.

I laughed and let out a groan. "I can't take all this mushiness! Let's do something else."

"FIFA 13?" Tom's eyes lit with excitement, and I couldn't help but laugh.

"Let's do it."


	17. Chapter 17

**Last chapter! Can you believe it?**

It had been about three months since the accident. Three months since I had told Tom I needed time. And it was true; I wasn't ready for a relationship at the time. But now – now things felt different. I appreciated things that I didn't before: the smile on Tom's face when he's around his cats, how excited he got when a Natalie Portman movie was on, the passion on his face when he picked up his guitar. The little things. And the more I thought about it, the more I realized; isn't that what love is?

I didn't know how to tell him. It's not exactly something you bring up during a conversation. I could picture it. _Tom, can you pass the salt. Oh, by the way, I love you._ Ha, yeah no. I had distracted myself from all of this by pouring myself into my new PR job that I had gotten several weeks ago. It wasn't exactly the highest paying job at my starting position, but it definitely beat waitressing. Although I did miss working with Kayla.

I got home in evening and saw Tom, Harry, and Dougie sitting on the couch.

"Hey guys!"

"Hi Emma," Dougie and Tom chorused. Harry, who was on the phone, smiled in my direction and gave me a small nod.

"Is Danny out with Kayla?" I asked.

"When isn't he?" Dougie replied with an eye roll.

I laughed. It was true. Ever since they had officially started dating, they were inseparable. I don't even think Kayla stayed at her own flat most nights.

Harry stepped out of the room to continue his conversation with whoever he was talking to. When he came back a minute later, he was grinning.

"Alright there?"

"I've got a date on Saturday," Harry said with a smile.

I noticed Tom glance over in my direction for a moment to see my reaction. Truthfully, I was happy for him. It was good that he was moving on.

"What girl would possibly want to date _you_?" Dougie exclaimed.

"Aww, is little Dougie jealous?" Harry sat himself on Dougie's lap and planted a quick kiss on his cheek, despite Dougie's protests.

"Get off of me!"

"Seriously guys, get a room!" I said through my laughter.

After Dougie and Harry had settled down, Tom asked whom he was actually going out with.

"This gorgeous girl named Danielle. I met her when we were on tour and gave her my number, but she lost it up until now. So she called me up and now we're going to grab pizza!"

"Nice, mate!"

"I didn't even mention that she's a drummer. Do you guys know how hot that is?"

"Aw, you can have little drummer babies!" Tom joked. Harry just wiggled his eyebrows in response. I'm sure he wouldn't mind the whole baby-making process.

The guys left an hour or two later, and Tom and I were up in his room playing around with his guitars. We played a few songs together, but it was obvious that Tom was a much more skilled player than I was.

"How do you feel about Harry and this Danielle girl?" he randomly asked, setting the guitar he was holding on the bed.

"I don't mind it at all. I'm actually happy for him."

"Alright. I just thought it was a bit weird of him to mention her while you were around."

"No, seriously, it's fine. I'm completely over Harry," I told him.

Tom absentmindedly strummed the guitar, seemingly thinking something through. I wondered what he was thinking about.

"So…you don't like him anymore?" he finally spoke.

"Not like that. I…like someone else," I could feel the blood rushing to my cheeks. Why had I just said that? What if he was over me? I mean, it had been months since he told me he loved me; his feelings could have changed. Tom was frowning when I gathered the courage to look at him. That wasn't a good sign.

"Really? Who?" he asked.

"You, dumbass!" I laughed, relieved.

Realization hit his face. "Do you really?"

"Well, 'like' may not be the right word. It's, uh, a little bit stronger than that…"

Tom grinned up at me, and a smile formed on my own face as I saw him happy. But he was a little too far away for my liking. I scooted forward slightly, wrapping my arms around his neck as he slid his own around my waist. We were close; I could feel him inches in front of me, his breath on my neck. The gap closed as his lips met mine, slowly at first, but more confident as he felt me kissing him back. I pulled apart, out of breath.

"I love you, Tom. And I'm sorry for all the shit I've put you through–"His lips cut me off.

"I love you too. Always."

**A/N: And, uh, wow. That's the end of the story. Thank you so much for reading, and I hope you liked it! I have another idea for a story, but with school being as busy as it is, I don't want to start something and make people wait weeks for a new chapter. But thanks again for reading!**


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